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Month: October 2017

RWA has a list of subgenres on their site, but the last time we asked for topic suggestions, this one came up a few times. Do these sub-categories still represent the breakdown of Romance as a genre? Should there be more? Fewer? What happens if you’re writing genre hybrid–how do you decide how to pitch, market, and sell your books? We’ll talk about all of that and more on Sunday, November 5th, 7pmET/4pmPT.

Self-promotion is one of the biggest struggles we face as authors, but it gets even more complicated when you factor in introvert/extrovert strengths. You might have finally mastered (or at least come to terms with) the ins and outs of digital promotion, only to freeze up when pitching your book face to face. Or maybe you feel way more comfortable recommending your book to someone you can have a real, live conversation with, while digital promotion feels like shouting into the void.

Bring your strengths, or your utter befuddlement towards any kind of marketing, on October 29th, when we discuss in-person marketing vs. online marketing.

The October 22nd chat is about research! #RWchat co-host Alexis Daria weighs in on doing research for her debut contemporary romance, Take the Lead.

I thought writing a contemporary would be easy. Wait. Let me backtrack: I hate doing research. So I thought writing a contemporary romance would be easier than, say, a historical. No research, right?Little did I know. When I set out to write Take the Lead, I thought I had obtained enough dance knowledge from years of watching Dancing with the Stars to write a book that was kind of about dancing and mostly about people getting out of their own way to find love. And then I hit the first dance scene…and I was stuck. I didn’t know enough about dance to write a character who was a professional dancer. Sure, I suppose I could have just skimmed the details and said, “They danced across the porch,” and left it at that. I knew which dance they were doing—a sensible waltz—but I wanted to use more dance vocabulary and detail. So I opened a browser and did a quick bit of research.

Last month we asked for topic suggestions at the end of one of the chats, and we got quite a few! One topic that many chatters mentioned was research. Research isn’t just for historical writers! Even if you’re writing fantasy or paranormal, you might still find yourself falling into Wikipedia rabbit holes. Let’s talk about it next Sunday at 7pm Eastern, 4pm Pacific. See you then.

Writing is a craft, a calling, a creative endeavor, but it’s also a business. The writing process is intensely personal, but once your words are out in the world, it’s a whole other story. (Pun intended.) Rejection letters, canceled contracts, agent breakups, even unfinished manuscripts that never make it out from under the bed—writing careers have ups and downs, but it’s how we deal with the setbacks that make all the difference.

Whether you’re in the northern or southern hemispheres, it’s a new season, which means it’s time to talk about goals! Let’s look back over the last nine months of the year and see how far we’ve come, as well as reassessing what we want and where we’re going.